Senate Judiciary Committee Delays Final Vote on Eric Holder?s Nomination to be the Next Attorney General for One Week

VOTE WILL NOW TAKE PLACE NEXT
WEDNESDAY, 1/28/09

The Issue: As is their right under
the rules of the United States Senate, the Republicans on the
Senate Judiciary Committee have delayed a final vote on the
nomination of Eric Holder to be U.S. Attorney General for one week.
Thus, the final vote will be next Wednesday, January 28,
after which the nomination will come before the full US
Senate. While this delay is regrettable, we must use this
time to advocate on behalf of confirming Mr. Holder.

Eric Holder, who has been nominated by President-elect Barack
Obama to serve as Attorney General of the United States, is clearly
the right person for the job. The Department of Justice has,
for the past 8 years, been woefully mismanaged, and as a result it
has not adequately protected Americans’ voting, housing or
employment rights; nor has it even attempted to address police
misconduct or a whole host of other issues to ensure that our
rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are
protected.

Through his historic nomination of Eric Holder (if confirmed
Eric Holder will be the first African American U.S. Attorney
General in history) President-elect Obama has selected someone who
has, throughout his career, demonstrated a commitment to justice,
an even-handed nature, and an ability to lead. In addition to
serving as the Deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno and leading
the transition from Ms. Reno to her successor, Attorney General
John Ashcroft, Eric Holder has served as the United States Attorney
for the District of Columbia, as a Superior Court Judge nominated
by Ronald Reagan and as a trial attorney in the Public Integrity
section of the Department of Justice. Mr. Holder knows the
U.S. Department of Justice and knows what needs to and can be done,
and is clearly the best candidate to swiftly and competently
restore and reinvigorate the beleaguered department.

A toll free phone number,1-866-346-7779, will be available
beginning on Monday, January 26 at7:00
amEDTto call Senators to urge
them to support Mr. Holder. A full list of Senators who are
on the Judiciary Committee, along with their states, is attached;
the number again is1-866-346-7779. The NAACP is urging
everybody to call their Senator in support of Mr. Holder, with a
special emphasis on people who live in states that are represented
by members of the Committee.